Tale As Old As Time
by The Pirate Illusionist
Summary: The wizarding world was at peace after the time of Voldemort, but as Harry's children and the other students of Hogwarts go back to school, they'll realize that something is not right. Strange things are happening once again at Hogwarts.
1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note: **It's been a long time since I've posted anything on FanFiction and this story, is one that I've been working on for a few months. I've had quite the writer's block and college life has been hectic. The story set in the future. I decided that it was best to be put in the future than present time, so I have students that do not have a history and a plan for them and I can create quite a few. So, to clarify: James is Harry and Ginny's oldest son, Fred is the son of George and Angelina, Frank is the son of Neville and Hannah, and Liam is Seamus's son. I try to keep relations as clear as I can. So, here it is!

**Disclaimer: **I do not lay claim to anything Harry Potter. All that goes to JK Rowling.

* * *

James Potter and Fred Weasley were not paying attention to Professor Nobbs as she droned on about some potion they were supposed to be making. They were barely listening to the crazy old bat as they leaned back in their chairs and doodled obscene images on a scrap of parchment in front of them. It was not like she cared that they did this anyway because she would find a reason to deduct house points from the two seventh year Gryffindors, so they were just finding a good reason so that it did not happen to be for something that she just made up to get them in trouble. She always seemed to zero in on the two boys even when the room was full of people. They hated it, but they could not go off running and tell someone that she was being unfair. They were two trouble makers and who would want to believe them?

"Boys," she finally scolded, after finishing up her introduction to the potion or maybe it was a while after she had finished up because everyone else seemed busy around them. Even Liam Finnigan and Frank Longbottom were pouring things in the cauldron beside them. How did they totally miss the ending? "You weren't listening again." She tutted her tongue and made her way back to them, snatching up the piece of paper before either one of them could grab it. "And drawing obscene pictures as well." Her voice was sickly sweet for scolding them like tea that had too much sugar in it. "Five points from Gryffindor…" she paused, her eyes narrowing on them, letting the moment sink in, "…each." Her voice rose at that and there were a few groans but sharp glares coming from the professor ended that. There were also some snickering from the Slytherins, but she did nothing to stop the house from carrying on since she seemed to favor them.

James had a hard time holding back a string of complaints and sarcastic remarks as he and Fred tried to busy themselves with their potion. The professor walked off when James glanced at his cousin.

"I hate her, I really do," he said, running a hand through his messy black hair.

"I know, JP," his cousin said, letting out a sigh. "But there really isn't much we can do."

James's eyes flashed dangerously and his palm slammed against the counter top. "Oh, really? You really doubt us, Freddy?"

A grin played on Fred's lips that danced in his eyes. "Didn't say that."

James was about to open his mouth to respond when he heard the professor clear her throat. She looked up with a harsh glare on the two from the front of the room. "Do you want me to deduct more points, Mr. Potter and Mr. Weasley?"

The two of them concentrated on their cauldron, trying to ignore the professor, but then the realization hit James. "Uh, Fred… what exactly are we doing?" he hissed, as Nobbs lowered her gaze and went to help a Slytherin.

"No clue."

They would have asked the other two Gryffindor boys by them but they looked busy and it was not like James and Fred to ask for help. They were independent and they didn't need help any other time. How was this supposed to be different? "This might be it," James muttered as he threw something into the cauldron. He was not sure what he grabbed, but it was on the table in front of him

"What about this?" Fred said, throwing something else in, following James's lead.

"And this?"

The two of them were snickering and just tossing things in the potion, one after another. They did not even realize that it was starting to froth green over the sides and a thick black smoke was issuing off of it. They kept continuing by putting things in it without paying attention. The potions professor was too busy to notice the two boys. Finally, when it started to travel across the table, eating away some of the top, Liam spoke up.

"Uh… guys…" he stammered, his eyes wide, as he backed away from the table.

The two of them looked over and finally noticed the potion. Curses issued from their mouths as they tried to clean it up but Fred knocked it to the ground and some other potion ingredients with it. As the excess ingredients met the potion on the floor, there was a loud booming sound as the potion exploded. Some of the students screamed as they went running from the room but the four Gryffindor boys were not able to escape quick enough. Thick smoke filled the air and no one could see a thing. It traveled through the dungeons before the professor could dispel it quickly enough. She was glaring at the two boys with a fierce glare that made them both want to shrink away. They wanted to bolt, but her hands reached out to grab the fabric of their robes. They could not escape.

"Fifty points each!" she shrieked. "And detention!" The boys glanced down at the ground and James ran a hand through his hair. "Everyone, to the hospital wing since these two had us inhale whatever they made in that cauldron."

The class filed out but James and Fred wanted to be last out of the classroom. There was a huge black charred mark on the stone floor but they surveyed the students walking out and no one seemed to be seriously injured or even marked up at all. A few had some scrapes from diving off chairs from surprise. They were grumbling to themselves as they headed up to the hospital wing where the entire class was sitting, waiting to be inspected.

"Nice job, Potter," sneered Slytherin in their year.

"Yeah, nice going," another one joined in.

James glared at them but Fred placed a hand in front of him to signal to him that they caused enough trouble. The woman in charge of the hospital wing came out and started to inspect each and every one of them, including the professor. She was clicking her tongue softly to herself and her eyes kept lighting on the two Gryffindor boys as if she knew that they had to be the ones to cause this much trouble. She finally went to the professor and declared that there was nothing wrong with them but if any of them should feel sick, they should return and she would inspect them again. Everyone filed out of the hospital wing but again, the four Gryffindor boys hung back.

"This can't just be it, right?" Fred asked. "There has to be more."

"I know, Nobbs didn't even look worried," Frank commented.

"It's because she's pure evil," James said, his arms crossing over his chest as they exited the room and started for the stairs. "She doesn't care about anyone but herself."

"Maybe we'll all break out with something or die in our sleep later, but don't we have Quidditch practice now?" Liam asked. "Can't we just worry about this later?"

The boys agreed as they hurried out to the Quidditch pitch so they would not be late for practice. That was the last thing they wanted, even if they happened to die from some mysterious disease that came from the exploding cauldron. They tried to clear their minds of the events of the day, but in the back there was a portion that just kept nagging at them. They would investigate this later, but the four boys forgot about it when they climbed on their brooms.


	2. Chapter 2

**Author's Note: **Thank you to those who reviewed the first chapter! Okay, this chapter is still set up for what is to come, but the next chapter will finally dive into the plot and you'll get to see exactly what is going on with the students! ****

Disclaimer: I do not own any of the Harry Potter franchise. I'm a poor college student.  


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The news of what James and Fred did spread around the school and that they had lost one hundred and ten points for Gryffindor together. They were receiving glares from fellow Gryffindors on the way to breakfast and some snide remarks from the other houses, but they did not think that any of this was over. They felt a little funny about the whole thing that something was going to happen to them as side effects from the potions, but they could not quite put their finger on it. It was too strange and they wanted to investigate it more. It was impossible to do that. Everyone was against them now. One toe out of line and they would probably be attacked by their fellow housemates. While Gryffindors tended to support each other, they always seemed to alienate those who caused them to lose massive amounts of points. The togetherness of the house was overshadowed by the competitive nature and hopes to win the House Cup. They would have to be on their best behavior for the next few days to be forgiven by their housemates, but they knew it would be difficult. They were not exactly the best behaved Gryffindors out there. Both boys sat down at the Gryffindor table, trying to eat their food in silence without the many glares of the people around them when the owls flew in, dropping a letter in front of each of them. Each with their letter in hand, they exchanged glances before ripping open the envelopes to see what their fates might be.

"You first, James," Fred said, both of them not looking down at the writing yet.

"No, you first." Neither of them wanted to find out first. It was if prolonging the inevitable meant that they would never have to go to the detention assigned to them.

"No, I don't want to go first. It's all your fault anyway. If you didn't start throwing things in, this would have never happened."

"Is not…"

"Is so…"

"Let's settle this the muggle way," James said, throwing down his letter, and Fred followed him. "Winner goes last." Fred nodded in agreement. Their hands balled up and they placed their right hands on top of their left palms. "Rock, paper, scissors… shoot!"

James's hand formed scissors as Fred's was a rock and he let out a grown. "Can't believe it…" he muttered. "Best two out of three?"

"No way. You needed to specify that before and you didn't. Open it, mate," Fred said, a huge grin on his face as James picked up his letter and looked at it.

James groaned and let out a sigh. "I'm cleaning around the lake and if I have time, probably skimming the lake."

Fred glanced down at his own. "Trophy room."

"Your is better than mine, mate."

"Doubt it."

"No, it is."

"No it isn't."

"Is."

"Isn't."

"How immature are the two of you to be debating on whose detention is better?" Liam chimed in, sick of his friends arguing. "Why would you even care? They're all pretty horrible."

"When you've had as many as us, you know which are the good one and the bad ones. I'm sure they just keep inventing things for us to do," James replied.

Liam looked like he was about to say something else but a girl with light hair slid into the seat beside of James. She leaned against his side and grinned up at him. "So I heard about what you did," Hannah Wood said, not condemning him but more in a playful tone.

"Yeah, Hannah. Detention to prove it," he said, holding up the paper with the detention written on it. He waved it like it was certificate and she snatched it out of his hands, reading it for herself and then, setting it on the table.

"Lovely, just lovely," she said with a shake of her head. "Aren't you sick of all these detentions?"

James stole a glance at Fred. "Nope."

"And why not?" Hannah asked, a pout forming. "You could be spending your time with me instead of cleaning around the lake. How is that fair?"

He bent down and gave her a quick peck on the cheek. "It's not, but how great will it be to have me come back to cuddle with when I smell like the lake?"

She wrinkled her nose, her eyebrows knitting together. "Ewww, please take a shower before you come see me!"

James shook his head. "No can do, Hannah. Maybe I want to smell like the lake. You're just going to have to deal with it."

"No! Please, no!"

"Enough!" Frank exclaimed. His hands slammed down on the table, causing all of his friends to look at him. "As much as this playful bickering is cute, it's also getting on my nerves. Why don't you two just get a room?"

James's eyes shifted to his friend. "And make you miss out on this?" His tone changed to one that was more serious when his friend's look did not change at James's sarcastic tone. "What's going on? Usually, you don't yell at us for doing this."

Frank shrugged his shoulders, an annoyed look on his face. "I don't know. It's just annoying and the two of you need to grow up." He looked down at his barely touched plate of food and pushed it away from him. "I'm done here," he added, before he left the Great Hall.

"What's his problem?" Hannah asked, her arms crossing over her chest.

Liam thought for a moment, his hand settling on his chin. "Women issues," he finally replied and the other two nodded solemnly.

"Hey!" Hannah said, her face starting to turn red. "What is that supposed to mean?" She pushed herself off of James. "What do you guys mean by women issues and then nodding like that? You need to tell me!" she fumed, her arms going from her chest to her hips.

"Can't," James replied, shoving a few pieces of bacon into his mouth.

"And why not?" she asked, standing up.

"You're a woman," all three of them chimed together.

Her face looked purple as she backed away from the Gryffindor table. "Fine then," she said, her voice rising in pitch. "Don't tell me. Have fun at the lake, but don't expect to see me after." She stormed off in a huff.

James's gaze followed after her and then turned back to his food as both Liam and Fred were giving him smirks. "What?" he asked, between a mouthful of food.

"You're screwed," Liam stated in a sing song voice.

"I am not," James said, but as he looked towards his cousin, Fred nodded his head, agreeing with Liam.

"She's not happy."

James scowled as he shook his head at his friends. "So what? She'll get over it."

"Girls hold grudges forever," Fred replied, "You should know that."

The scowl changed into a smirk of amusement as his mind traveled to a few girls who held grudges on him. There were quite a few of them. Some that he did not understand and others that he knew he deserved. "Yeah, you're right, but Hannah usually doesn't hold grudges forever. You'll see. She'll be by my side after I come back from the lake tonight." James stood up and his friends followed as breakfast was ending and the Great Hall was clearing out. "So, I'll see you tonight to talk about whose detention was worse like always, Fred?"

The young man grinned. "You know it," and the two of them shook hands as Liam shook his head.

"You guys are so immature," he stated, as the three of them left the Great Hall to go back and prepare for the day of classes ahead of them.


	3. Chapter 3

**Author's Note: **Third installment! The plot is going to start with James and eventually, many more of the students will find themselves in odd predicaments. So, enjoy!****

Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter or any of the legends/fairy tales that I include in my story.  


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James let out a yawn as he was trimming the grass around the lake. Isn't that what the caretaker and groundskeeper were for? He knew they were just trying to find something new to punish him and Fred with separately but he hated doing this by hand the muggle way. He let out another yawn as he started to swerve towards the lake. He caught himself and moved away from the lake. "Come on, James, almost done," he muttered to himself. He had resorted to talking to himself to keep himself awake but it was not working too well as his eyes started to drift shut and suddenly, he felt himself step into the cold water. His eyes snapped open, but at that moment, his foot slipped on the muddy ground and he was immersed in the lake.

He was sinking fast and all he could see was water. He struggled to swim back to the top, but a grindylow grabbed onto his leg and was dragging him deeper. He opened his mouth and water surged in. It was not the most intelligent thing to do. He tried to cough it all out, but more water started to fill his mouth and travel into his lungs as he wanted to breathe but couldn't from the water all around him. He was not thinking clearly anymore and his lungs hurt from the water that had entered.

He could barely see in the water and it made it worse when the edges of his vision started to become black. They were enclosing fast and he wanted to scream out for someone to help him, but he could not breathe and he was choking on the water. He kicked and struggled, fatiguing himself quickly. He felt himself going deeper and deeper when he finally gave up struggling and the blackness enclosed around him but he thought he felt something wrap around him. _Probably another grindylow or the squid. At least this will be over,_ he thought before no more thoughts entered his mind.

---  
Why was there a human in the lake? She barely saw any of them down this far unless it was some game like one that had happened all those years ago at the Triwizard Tournament, but she was sure that it was not one. The mermaids would have been told if they had some sort of game in the lake, right? She watched him curiously as he struggled and he was being pulled deeper down by a grindylow. For some odd reason, she felt bad for him and the young mermaid knew that she probably should be saving him since she had been watching him all night as he cleaned up around the lake. She had been curious of him the whole time and she wanted to get closer, but no one would want to be around a mermaid, she was sure of that since they did not speak the same language when she was on land. Her voice would have sounded like a piercing scream to him and she knew that he would not be able to respond back to her. He would probably even cover his ears in pain from her voice. She did not think she would exactly be what a human male would want to be around.

Oh no, he was getting worse and she swam quickly as she saw him stop struggling. That could not be good since he could not breathe like she could in water. She grasped him around the waist and started to swim upward. The grindylow let go as soon as she started towards the surface. She was glad she did not have to fight the creature off. The human was hard enough to swim with. He was like a dead weight and almost hard to maneuver as she tried to reach the surface. She had to hurry if she did not want him to die.

She broke through the surface of the water and laid him on the grass nearby. He was not breathing and she started to panic. He could not die; she was not going to let that happen. She pulled herself onto the dry ground beside of him. She brought her grayish lips down to his and gave him a quick puff of air, all she could manage since she could not be on land for long. She pounded him on the chest a few times before he let out a cough and water spilled out of his mouth. He kept coughing and she dared to wipe the black hair away from his face. Even with him spilling out his stomach's contents on the side of the lake, she knew he had to be by far the most handsome thing she had ever saw even compared to the merman down in her village.

Suddenly, he opened his eyes and she darted off into the water, hoping that he did not see her. She would be in trouble if a human had seen her on the shore. Her kind usually did not go to the surface of the lake or help the human kind. She would probably be severely punished if anyone found out. So, she swam deeper, to her home, wishing that she could be back with him.

----

What had saved him? When he opened his eyes, he saw a tail splashing down in the water and his first immediate thought was that it had to be a mermaid. He lay in the grass for a few moments, trying to get his bearings and figure out what had exactly happened and why a mermaid had saved him.

He jumped up from the grass in an instant and sprinted from his spot. He did not care that he was soaking wet or that no one came to retrieve him just yet. His clothes were sticking uncomfortably on his body and he wanted to rearrange them but he needed to reach the school. It was a good thing that he was athletic, but even so, he was still panting as he ran from getting sick and almost drowning. The school seemed like it was so far off in the distance and he wanted to collapse on the ground. He kept running forward until he made it to the front stairs and bounded up them in two jumps. He threw open the doors and took off down the halls, not caring if he was dripping all over the floor or that they were not allowed to run in the school. He was taking the steps two at the time, screaming Fred's name.

When he finally entered the trophy room, he collapsed on the floor gasping for air and Fred was giving him a concerned look.

"JP, what's up? Why are you all wet?" he asked, standing near the trophies as if to protect all his hard work.

It took a few more minutes until James could finally speak and he ran a hand through his black hair, it slicking back in odd angles from the water. "You'd never believe what happen to me!" he replied with a hoarse voice.

"I'm not sure if I want to know," he said, letting out a chuckle.

"Nah, you'll get a kick out of it." James paused for effect before spilling what he was going to tell his cousin. "I almost drowned."

"What?" he asked incredulously.

"Yeah but I'm pretty sure a mermaid saved me."

That was when Fred started to laugh hysterically. "Sure, James. A mermaid came from out of the lake and saved you because she felt like it."

"She did save me, I'm sure of it and I saw her, I know I did."

He was still laughing so much that he was doubled over and clutching his stomach. "This is too much, just stop."

"I can't believe we're best friends and cousins and you don't believe me," he said angrily, his arms crossed over his chest.

He started to calm down at his friend's anger. "C'mon, mate. It's just a little hard to believe from you. I wouldn't even believe it from myself. We're not exactly the most truthful students in the whole school."

"Give me a truth potion if you want but you'll see that I'm telling the truth!"

"Sure, James," Fred said, still chuckling.

"I'm not lying! Why would I lie to you? What would I have to gain with this?" James asked, fuming.

Fred shrugged his shoulders. "I don't know. You always try to pull one over on professors to get away with things."

"This is different! You're my best mate and cousin!" he reiterated.

"It's just hard to believe."

"I'm not kidding! Get your head out of your arse! I'm done here if you're not going to believe me."

Before he left, he ran his wet hand over one of the trophies, leaving a smug and Fred started to shout after him about all his hard work and how much of a prick James was at that moment. He stormed out of the trophy room, sure that what he saw was true and that he was not making it up at all. He was just going to have to prove it to him even if that meant dragging Fred down to the lake with him to show him that she really was there. He made his way to the common room and fell into his bed, thinking about the mermaid. He had seen a few pictures of them and even though they weren't as pretty as muggle legends made them out to be, he could not believe that she would save him instead of letting him drown. Maybe it would be wise to tell his girlfriend about his near death experience but instead, he drifted off to sleep from the exhaustion of the night, his dreams filled with mermaids.


End file.
